


Four Hours (and Hopefully No More)

by TwistedSamurai



Series: Ten Gifts [6]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: And the Turks have to deal with him, Gen, Hojo turns him into a child, child Rufus, he's a big brat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:14:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24742147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwistedSamurai/pseuds/TwistedSamurai
Summary: Rufus makes meetings often to ensure Hojo isn't doing anything in the labs he isn't supposed to. Usually he brings one of the Turks down with him, but he decided to go alone this time. Tseng didn't think anything of it, until Reno slammed his office door open claiming they had a problem and he was needed. He was going to make sure it didn't happen again- after they could sneak the child out of Shinra without drawing attention to themselves.
Series: Ten Gifts [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1748647
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	Four Hours (and Hopefully No More)

When Rufus had said he was going down to talk to Hojo, Tseng had thought nothing of it, honestly. The blonde and he both had a mutual distain for the scientist. He had expected Rufus to come up, and slam the door open to talk to him any minute now, as he glanced at the time once more, setting a few more papers into his outbox. He sighed as he saw how little it was in comparison to the inbox. Another long night it seemed, was in store for him.

As he grabbed another stack to start working on them, the door slammed open. But it wasn’t Rufus’ cobalt blue eyes that met his, but bright blue instead.

“Boss has a problem.” Reno announced, and within seconds Tseng was up and around his desk, half running down the hall after Reno as he beelined for the elevator.

“Reno- Reno slow down.” He cursed as Reno hit the elevator button repeatedly. “What’s wrong?” A cold feeling of dread settled into his stomach. Why was Reno coming to him so suddenly like this? What had happened to Rufus? Where was Reno going to lead Tseng to?

“Just… You gotta see it because if I tell you you’ll just laugh.” Reno replied, and Tseng felt confusion bubbling up as the red head hit the button, chewing his lower lip as he answered his phone. “Hey, Rude…. Yeah, I got him- damn, can you stop him from crying?” He complained. Even without the phone on speaker, Tseng could hear what sounded like a crying toddler in the background.

“Reno. What is going on?” Tseng demanded, and Reno sighed, putting the phone on speaker. “Tell me now.”

“… Hojo… Kinda turned the boss into a kid.” Reno muttered, waving his phone. “The kid cryin’ in the background? That’s the boss…”

“You aren’t serious.” Tseng stared, and he could tell from the way Reno and Rude both sighed and the look in the red head’s eyes he was not kidding. He took a deep breath, reaching over to hit the button a few times. “Rude, we’ll be there momentarily.”

“Of course, sir.” Rude replied. The crying only seemed to get worse as Reno lowered the volume, and Tseng let out a slow breath. He fell silent the entire way up, but it was visible he was nervous.

Tseng did not do well with children when they were suddenly pushed on him, at all. He could deal with them if he had time to prepare, but... How was he supposed to deal with Rufus as a child? How young had Hojo made him? Judging by how Rude was trying to talk to him it was pretty young. Tseng’s frown only deepened as they made their way up to Rufus’ office and Reno hung up. The moment the door opened, there was a small noise of warning before there was a blur of white.

Between Reno and Tseng they were quick to block Rufus from leaving the room, and Reno glanced at Tseng before picking him up.

Tseng stepped into the room after Reno and he couldn’t take his gaze away from the now pouting child in his arms. It was clearly Rufus that he was looking at. He couldn’t mistake that stubborn pouty look for anyone else, even in the face of what looked to be a five-year-old child. Tseng could only assume Rude or one of the others had replaced Rufus’ clothes, since clearly his white suit would no longer fit him.

Rufus looked at him, holding out his arms suddenly and reaching a bit too far forward. A loud curse echoed between all three Turks as Rufus fell from Reno’s arms, the red head trying his best to keep his grip even as the blonde escaped him.

Tseng moved faster than both of them, as Reno struggled to grab Rufus, kneeling and catching the blonde in his arms. He huffed as he straightened up, shifting so Rufus was sitting on one of his arm, the other arm wrapped around him so his hand was resting on Rufus’ back. There was a small grunt as Rufus reached up to tug at his hair, but he made no move to stop him from doing so.

“He uh… Wants you?” Reno said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as Tseng glared at him. The Director said nothing, moving over to the couch and sitting down. He sighed as Rufus tugged at his hair again, forcing him to tilt his head.

“Sir. Please.” Tseng pulled the hands out of his hair, looking at them in dismay as he realized they were sticky and now his hair was too. A small grumble followed when Rufu started to sniffle again. Of course, he knew how to use tears to get what he wanted. It was too bad they had never worked on Tseng, over the years. “If you cry I will put you to bed now.” He added sternly.

Reno stared in surprise as Rufus not only stopped, but that Tseng dug out some napkins to clean his hands off. “Uh… Boss? When did you get so good with kids?” He asked as he glanced at Rude, who simply shook his head a little bit. “Seriously, we haven’t gotten him to stop the entire time, what the heck did you do?”

“I’ve done many things you would probably be shocked at, Reno. Taking care of children is something I can do well, I suppose. I don’t know why they like me. He was using his tears to make you panic and do what he wanted.” Tseng didn’t even look up, focusing on Rufus fully now. “Now… Elena went to see Hojo? Do we have a remedy for whatever he did? How long is this supposed to last.” He demanded.

“Four.” Rufus held up his clean hand as Tseng worked on the other one. “Four Tseng.”

“Four? Four hours? Four days?” Tseng stared for a moment as Rufus simply looked confused. “Dammit… You have a meeting tomorrow morning. And we have to get you home before Director Scarlet heads up here to drop of a report.” He muttered thoughtfully, and paused as Rude held up his car keys.

“We can help with that.” The bald Turk said, and Tseng stared before nodding.

“Good. Reno, make sure no one’s in the hall. Rufus… Sir you’re going to have to be quiet.” He touched a finger to his lips, smiling a little as Rufus copied it. He looked over, watching Reno check outside before he slipped out with a motion to be right back. Tseng nodded a bit and shifted Rufus in his lap again, sitting back, texting Elena quickly to make sure she was alright- he didn’t want to involve anyone else, but if she needed help he could always send someone down, and ensure their silence.

He could only pray that Elena got the information they needed. Tseng had half a mind to go down to the labs himself and demand answers from Hojo. Rufus tugged at his hair again and Tseng hissed a bit, but Rufus didn’t seem to care, playing with the long brown locks with a giggle. Tseng studied him, pressing his knuckles against his lips in thought.

They had to get Rufus out, that much was obvious. If anyone caught with that he had been turned into a child, things could get ugly very fast for them, and Tseng already had enough on his plate dealing with Rufus to deal with his enemies trying things before they could fix it. And not just his enemies, but also the other Directors. Reeve he had no doubt would leave things be, but people like Heidegger he knew would try to take advantage of things.

“It’s all clear now, boss.” Reno looked back in and Tseng stood up, shifting Rufus in his arm. As much as he didn’t like having his hands full, he was a bit more comforted as he left the office that Rude was right behind him, and Reno was further down the hall from them, leading the way nonchalantly to the elevators.

Rufus started squirming the moment they stepped in, and after exchanging a look with both of them, Tseng set Rufus on his feet. He paused as the blonde grabbed his hand, glancing down in surprise but he simply squeezed back.

“Okay… So, we get him home, and then we…. We what?” Reno asked, blue eyes flicking over as Rufus tried to grab at Tseng’s hair again. The blonde seemed to think it was amusing to watch Tseng’s head tilting with every push and he chuckled a bit, crouching down to pinch at his cheeks. “Man boss, I didn’t know you were this cute…”

“I am cute.” Rufus puffed his cheeks up as Reno kept poking at them, making a face as Reno grinned. “We’re going home?”

“Yes sir.” Tseng nodded, glancing down as Reno squished his cheeks together and made a face at Rufus, causing the small blonde to laugh loudly and reach out to squish Reno’s tattooed cheeks, rubbing them together and smiling brightly.

“I would call you childish but…”

“He has a good reason to be.” Rude commented finally, and Rufus paused, letting go of Reno and holding his hands up to Rude. The bald Turk paused before crouching to pick him up. Reno stood up, but fell back against the wall with loud laughter as Rufus proceeded to not only take his sunglasses, but also smack the top of his head when he went to protest.

“Mine.” Rufus said firmly, putting them on upside down and Rude stared for a moment before letting out a low sigh. Tseng’s phone went off as the Director tried his best not to snicker at Rude, answering it and shushing Rufus’ calls of. “Hello! Hello? I wanna talk!”

“Tseng. Hojo wouldn’t give me much on this- he was being a total dick about it- but he did tell me it wears off in a minimum of four hours, and all you need to do is wait it out.” Elena said as she heard Rufus in the background. “I see you’re with him.”

“I am.” Tseng sighed softly as the elevator opened and both he and Reno led the way out, Rude quietly trying to shush Rufus behind them. “Can you meet us back at the president’s house? We’ll need an extra hand with him, Elena.”

“No problem, boss. I’ll meet you there.” She replied cheerfully, and Tseng nodded a bit as she hung up the phone, putting it away and taking out his car keys. He was not looking forward to this, he realized as he unlocked the door for Rude and Reno to get in with Rufus.

Tseng was good with kids- he’d dealt with Aerith growing up and then later on having to watch her talk with all the children in the area. He smiled a little as he saw Rufus clamber into the seats between them before sitting in Reno’s lap and playing with the sun glasses. A brief nod to Rude, and he was moving around the car to get into the drivers seat.

Pulling out after making sure they were all set, he slowed the car when he saw Elena making her way to her car. Honking the horn, he leaned over to open the door for her. “Good timing, we were just about to leave… If I had known you were in the elevator on the way down as well I would have stopped to wait.” He commented as she got in and shut the door. His gaze focused out the window when they drove out, but he still glanced back occasionally to check on Reno, Rude, and Rufus.

“Well, Hojo wasn’t that helpful he just tossed a needle at me, said to give it to Rufus when we got him home, and then wait four hours. Muttering about how he couldn’t finish his own experiments. I had to leave before I nearly knocked him out.” Elena muttered, setting a box in the space between them. Tseng could only assume it was the needle.

“I don’t want a needle.” Rufus spoke up, tugging at Reno goggles now. He had lost interest in Rude’s glasses, and was more interested in playing with the red head. “They hurt.”

“I know, sir.” Tseng almost rolled his eyes. Between the four of them there would be no problem giving Rufus the injection, he was just trying to ignore the fact that if one of them had pushed to go with Rufus, then perhaps this wouldn’t have even happened. He had easily agreed to letting Rufus go alone, after all, and shook his head when Elena had started to offer her company. There was a small thought that Rufus being like this and them needing to sneak out of Shinra like this was his fault.

“Boss?” Elena said after a few minutes of silence while Tseng thought. “… You alright?” She reached over to rest a hand on his knee, and Tseng glanced at her briefly. “You’re scowling like you’re about to turn us around and go back to talk to Hojo yourself.”

“I’m just annoyed this happened at all… I’m sure Rufus is going to have a strong word with him when this is all over.” Tseng muttered, and Elena nodded, pulling back again. “Turn on the radio- it’ll help with distracting Rufus.” He added when Elena looked at him in confusion. Usually he never turned the radio on, he had his own music he played. The blonde shrugged a bit but did as he said, smiling as Rufus immediately started to dance in his seat, trying to sing along to the music.

The drive was short- Tseng made sure to stay within the speed limit the entire time, but he pushed it more than once. Not that anyone would stop the Turk at all. If he’d sped down the road to Rufus’ not a single officer would have bothered to stop him. Not that Tseng had ever done that. The few times he’d broken the law when it came to driving was usually on the job, and was honestly times when he was working with other military officers to try and catch someone.

He shook off the thoughts as he pulled up in front of Rufus’ house. Reno and Rude stepped out, carrying Rufus up the stairs and inside while he and Elena parked the car.  
“I’ll make sure no one is hanging around while you go help with this.” He said, setting the box on the trunk of the car as they got out. Elena looked surprised but nodded, taking it from him and heading in with a wave of her hands. She smiled sweetly as Tseng headed around the building to do the usual check of the perimeter.

There was never anyone around, Tseng just needed a few moments away from them. When children started crying it usally had the brunette jumping in to help, and he hated being the cause of the tears. It was why he’d told the other three to handle it. He knew Rufus would understadn why he’d stepped out- even the look in Elena’s eyes when she’d smiled showed that she knew why as well.

Tseng slowed a bit as the breeze picked up, closing his eyes. The last time he’d dealt with a crying child before this, he realized, had been years ago, when Aerith was a child and had tripped running down the road. She’d started crying, and Tseng had stepped forward without a second thought, away from the shadows he’d been watching her in to crouch down.

_“Let me help.” He coaxed as she’d hiccuped and moved a bit away from him. He sighed softly, taking off his gloves. “I’m just going to check your knee. I have some bandaids on me.” Aerith had watched him and rubbed at the tears on her cheeks, unsure._

_“Fine- but you can’t pick me up at all! You have to do it right here.” She had had such a stubborn look on her face, and Tseng chuckled with a nod before lifting the dress just enough to see the cut on her knee and taking the small first aid kit he always carried on him._

_He’d been gentle as possible, cleaning the dirt off before putting a bandaid on and helping her back to her feet. “There. You should be all good to continue playing.” He’d given her a small smile, about to stand up himself when Aerith had suddenly hugged him._

_“Thank you Mr. Tseng.” She’d chirped before running off. ___

__“Tseng? Tseng!” A hand touched his shoulder and he jumped, opening his eyes and turning as Elena jumped back a bit. “Hey- woah, it’s just me.” She raised her hands, and Tseng realized he’d been reaching into his jacket pocket. He shook his head a bit, clearing his throat._ _

__“Why did you come out here? Is something wrong?” He glanced at the house, and only frowned a bit as Elena shook her head._ _

__“You were standing there with your eyes closed… You looked lost in thought. Why don’t you go back inside and I’ll finish looking? Reno gave him the meds he’s just crying now.” She said, and as if to prove a point Reno opened one of the windows, leaning out, and Tseng could hear the shrieking. At some point Rufus had yanked his hair out of it’s ponytail, and it fell around his shoulders._ _

__“Boss! Can you bring up some ice cream? Or something? Please.” Reno cursed as he looked over his shoulder. “Hey- Rude get him off of there!”  
“I’d better go help them.” Tseng chuckled a little as Reno disappeared back inside. Elena nodded agreement, continuing down the path Tseng had been going as he headed inside._ _

__Grabbing one of the ice cream sandwiches from the fridge- he was so happy that Rufus had grabbed them last week on a whim, it made things easier to clean up if he made a mess- Tseng headed up the stairs to Rufus’ room._ _

__A pillow flew past him the moment he opened the door and he raised an eyebrow as Rufus glared at him. “You said no needle!” He shouted._ _

__“I never said that. I said that I know they hurt.” He replied as he grabbed the pillow, tucking it under his arm. “I was bringing you some ice cream for taking the needle but if you want to throw things at me…”_ _

__“Wait! I want!” Rufus held up his hands, and Tseng stared at him before pursing his lips. “… Please? Pretty please?”_ _

__“Apologize to Reno and Rude.” Tseng waved the bar at the duo as he handed Rude the pillow._ _

__“No!” Rufus crossed his arms and Tseng sighed softly._ _

__“Then no ice cream.” He replied, and watched as Rufus stared for a moment, before grumbling and sitting on the floor. He didn’t say anything and Tseng wasn’t going to give in, simply sitting on the edge of the bed patiently while Reno and Rude picked up the things Rufus had thrown around in his fit._ _

__“… If I say sorry can I eat it?” Rufus eyed the ice cream, and Tseng. He pouted for a moment longer before looking over at Reno and Rude. “… I’m sorry.” He muttered._ _

__“It’s fine.” Reno grunted as he picked up his hair tie, pulling his hair back into it’s ponytail. Rude nodded agreement and Rufus looked over at Tseng hopefully.  
Tseng chuckled softly, before opening the bar and passing it to Rufus. With a small motion of his hand, Rude stepped out to go grab extra napkins. Tseng had used most of his when he’d first come into the room, and he knew by the way Rufus was eating the bar he would need more. Taking off his shoes, he lay back on the bed, relaxing. Reno didn’t even bat an eye that Tseng was laying in the president’s bed- neither did Elena or Rude when they came back._ _

__“I wanna cuddle.” Rufus announced when he’d finished. Tseng took the napkins silently and wipe at Rufus’ face when he climbed into the bed, curling up against his side with small whines when his face was wiped._ _

__“You can cuddle when Im done.” Tseng muttered, tossing the napkins into the bin beside Rufus’ bed. “Reno, Elena, Rude, you three can head out. I can handle him.” He glanced over as Rufus yawned and closed his eyes. At least he could get a few hours of quiet, if Rufus was sleeping, he thanked silently._ _

__“I’ll stick around.” Reno offered. “I mean… I kinda gave him all the sugar earlier, before I got you, so… Plus, boss, you’re dead on your feet, even without this. You can’t handle him alone if he wakes up again before he’s back to normal.”_ _

__“Fine.” Tseng murmured. He was exhausted from work, and Rufus was already falling asleep against his side. He glanced at Reno as the red head climbed into the bed side him. “Even dead on my feet I can work fine.”_ _

__“We’ll hang around the house for the night. Make sure the staff don’t come in.” Rude spoke up and Tseng sighed, smiling. He should have known they wouldn’t just leave him alone to deal with it. Even if it meant overtime for them, they stepped up when Tseng needed them most._ _

__“Get some rest boss. I’ll stay awake, and watch shit here.” Reno added._ _

__“Language.” Tseng muttered, already closing his eyes. By the time Elena and Rude had left the room, he was asleep, one arm wrapped around Rufus, and the other over his head, resting on the pillows with fingers touching the cool wood of the headboard._ _

__\-------------------------------------------------_ _

__Rufus opened his eyes with a low groan. His head was pounding, his stomach was more cramped then when he was little and had eaten nothing but sweets at one of his fathers parties that he’d been dragged to. He remembered going into Hojo’s labs, and the scientist had said something, but then…_ _

__He lifted his head a bit as he realized Tseng had an arm wrapped around him, holding the blonde flush against his body. Reno was passed out with his back to them, and Rufus raised an eyebrow before focusing on Tseng again. The Turk was still asleep, lips parted slightly as he snored quietly. Rufus smiled a bit- Tseng had denied it, even when Rufus had threatened to record him, that he did in fact snore. The blonde leaned over, kissing his cheek._ _

__“Mm… Sir.” Tseng mumbled tiredly, waking instantly at the touch. He opened his eyes, half asleep, and lowered the hand that was over his head to touch Rufus’ cheek, smiling a bit. “It wore off.”_ _

__“What wore off?” Rufus asked. “Why are we at home, Tseng? I have a pounding headache and I feel sick- nor do I remember what happened after I left the labs.” The frown on his face only deepened as Tseng smiled a bit, chuckling tiredly and studying him for a moment._ _

__“Of course… Reno fed you far too many sweets earlier.” Tseng whispered, turning a bit to face Rufus, and the blonde realized suddenly that he was naked, under the blankets. “You were subject to one of Hojo’s little… Tests.” He explained with sleep still heavy in his voice, not fully awake. “I’m glad you’re not a child any more… You were far more bratty than you are now.”_ _

__“I was- what?” Rufus stared as Tseng closed his eyes again with a mumbled apology. “… Go back to sleep Tseng.” He muttered, knowing that Tseng was already doing it, even without his words. “I’m going to kill that bloody scientist myself.” He ran a hand through Tseng’s hair, but paused as he hit a stick bit, moving it with a frown. “Why is your hair sticky?”_ _


End file.
